So it’s a holiday here in Germany, it’s a beautiful day outside and I’m still in my PJs, scrolling through my RSS reader, and two Reuters headlines scream out at me: “Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones” and “Nokia unveils bicycle mobile charger“.
Sadly, Reuters doesn’t provide any details, but CNET’s Crave blog does:
C1 phone (far left): Two SIM slots, only one line active at a time, six-week standby time (longest by far of any Nokia handset). Built-in LED flashlight! Available Q3 for €30.
C2 (far right): Two SIM slots (hot-swappable), both lines can be active simultaneously, microSD card slot (up to 32GB). Available Q4 for €45.
Nokia’s got more details on the other two models on its blog.
As for the bicycle charging device, CNET reports that “the dynamo starts charging when the speed of the bicycle reaches 6 kph and stops when it hits 50 kph”. Reuters adds that it’ll cost €15 and will be available “later this year.”
I think what’s really interesting about these new products is that they seem to be designed for the developing world but I think would actually be quite popular in the developed world too. I know lots of people that would love a cheap phone that includes six-week standby time, a built-in flashlight (who doesn’t use their phone as a flashlight?). Plus, for those of us who are globetrotters, dual-SIM slots is pretty sweet.
Now here’s my only question: why not combine the functions of the C1 and C2? Or does the simultaneous dual-SIM use suck up a lot of battery?
It’s essentially for reasons of price. It’s very interesting to see dual-SIM phones from Nokia; they’ve been reluctant to produce them (it annoys operators) but Chinese vendors have been doing it for years and they are very popular. I saw a lovely “NOCIA” phone in Uganda last year with dual SIMs. It looked just like a Nokia apart from the dual-SIM support and the garing blue LEDs on the sides! Very Chinese. Anyway, supporting two lines at once means you need more radio circuitry, which raises the price. So it makes sense to offer a C1 and a C2 to give people the option to switch SIMs manually or have both active at once.
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“Now here’s my only question: why not combine the functions of the C1 and C2?
Or does the simultaneous dual-SIM use suck up a lot of battery?”
Obviously, in order to run TWO SIM cards concurrently it is necessary to have TWO radios active in the phone at the same time. Consequently power consumption is going to be considerably greater in the C2 than it is in the C1.
For me, the C1 is the handset of choice – it combines so many features, including:
– Ovi Mail
– Ovi Chat
– Opera Mini browser (although constrained by the 128 x 160 pixel screen)
– FM RDS radio (though it does not come bundled with a stereo headset to keep cost down)
– Quad band GSM with GPRS
– Micro SD slot capable of hosting up to 32 GB microSD
– High speed USB (for getting binary files onto micro SD)
– MP3 player capabilities
– Battery standby life of up to 6 weeks!!!
All of this for 30 Euros ex taxes! Forget the iPhone 4G – this is probably the most exciting (and world changing) phone of 2010!
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